Now poor Cordelia has both Sydney AND Angelica to deal with!
[Cordelia]As soon as the decision is made to fight, we all get to work. It's a big job, but together, maybe we can face this problem and find a way to come out on top again. After discussing our situation and breaking it down into parts, we all go off on our separate paths to work towards a resolution.Atlas contacts his legal team. He made a deal with the Bryants to help free Sydney, but having her then go straight to live TV and verbally attack the Greyson and Steele families goes against their good-faith agreements. The Bryants might fight it, but Atlas' attorneys are better. Tilly is using the full weight of the Matilda Madison name and calling all of her contacts, including several of Steele Industry's vendors. "None of the money came from her family funds," she explains over and over again. "She's clean of her family's crimes. Cordelia Louise has, and will always have my continued support." Meanwhile, Clark is busy on his laptop making a montage of my creation process. He has
Everyone looks my way. She's so loud that it is hard to have another conversation in the room with her raging at me. I'm not even on speakerphone but you wouldn't know that by how loudly she is screaming.Quickly I rush to my bedroom and close the door. Nobody needs to hear her berate me. "What is it this time, Mother?" I am truly exhausted by all of her recent dramatics. It seems that no matter what I do I cannot do anything right. "Angelica is having a meltdown and it is all your fault," she accuses. "You need to let her get on with her life. You're done with Atlas Steele. You're pregnant and engaged to his brother! Why can't you let Angelica have her happiness?"I want to shout at her about how wrong she is. I want to ask why she doesn't love me as much as she loves her. But what would be the point? She only hears what she wants to. "Mother, I cannot control Atlas any more than I can control you," I explain. "Besides, we have more important things to worry about.""What could b
The room is pin-drop silent after Atlas shares his news."She wants what?!" Clark asks indignantly as if he were the one being dragged down the aisle. I feel my heart sink. Atlas is so worried about me, and about our businesses, he might just do it to help me save face. Never mind how much it will break my heart to see him go down the aisle with my sister--a vision that has haunted my dreams for years.I was never supposed to be his bride. She was. If she hadn't tried to run from her responsibilities, if she had stayed and worked things out with Atlas in the first place, that's exactly where she'd be now--married to him."I told her no," Atlas eases all of our fears. As the tension drains from all of us, he takes my hands in his. "I won't do that to you. I love you, Cordelia Steele. We might not be married anymore, but I still take my vows to you seriously.""So what do you suggest we do?" Clark demands. "We told them no, so I'm assuming you made a counteroffer?"Atlas goes over their
[Atlas]As I watched her walk out the door, my heart sank to the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces. She asked me not to follow her so I didn't. She wants her space. Needs it. This request has finally pushed her too far. I've already asked so much of her. And here I am, asking her again. "You are such an idiot," my brother shakes his head as he places a hand on my shoulder. "I mean, I already knew you were a bit of a fool, but I didn't think you were a complete moron." "Why are you two letting Angelica make such a fuss," Tilly asks, her hands on her hips, angry for the sake of her friend. "I know she's your old sweetheart, but she is a danger to herself and other people. Why hasn't she been placed in an institution better capable of meeting her needs?"She has a point. "It isn't my call to make. I am not her next of kin\," I point out. "I am not her husband." And never will be, if I can help it. Clark begins pacing, twisting his hands with nerves. "You know, before you came
[Cordelia]It felt so good to slam the door and walk away from all of that nonsense. Standing in the same room while Atlas continued to make excuses for Angelica was the last straw. I had told them what had happened, what I had suspected, fears I was afraid of voicing because I was worried about how Atlas would receive it only to discover it didn't matter anyway. Atlas doesn't believe me. Or he doesn't believe that I know what I see and hear with my own eyes and ears.I'm not sure what would be worse--him thinking I'm a liar or him thinking I'm foolish. And Atlas--so much for not caring if others see us, or about the world and what it might think of us and our relationship. As soon as things got difficult, he hid behind his usual "just business" mindset and used it as an excuse to not follow through. I'm not sure why I thought things would be different between us. One beautiful night together isn't enough to change a lifetime of bad habits. I should have told my mother off and hu
[Cordelia]Even though I don't know this man at all, I find it surprisingly easy to open up to Magnus. As we sat in the diner, the storm outside got stronger, and my feelings poured out of me like the torrent of rain on the street. Maybe it is because I probably won't ever see him again, but I told him everything about Atlas, my sister, and my work. He didn't have a single negative thing to say, he simply held my hand while I ate large amounts of carbs and wept about potential futures gone sour. "It'll be okay Miss Cordy," he pats my hand as my words finally slow and I finish off another waffle. "You are young. You have so much life ahead of you. Even if things do not work out between you and your young mister, there is still so much more out there for you to discover."I guess so," I sniffle, blowing my nose on a napkin and then looking around for somewhere discreet to hide it, feeling gross and a bit rude. "Sorry." He snaps his fingers and gets the attention of one of the waitstaf
[Atlas]Fueled by the need to find her, to tell her how wrong I was, I race out of the building and onto the street. I don't have anything on me but the clothes on my back and my phone tucked away in a pocket.With my rumpled jacket and hair, I could be anyone on the street. Nobody would mistake me for being myself. I wasn't billionaire Atlas Steele, I was just an ordinary guy desperately looking for his pregnant wife on the streets of LA."Damn it, Cordelia," I curse as I feel the wind pick up and remember that she left the house without a coat. "Where the hell did you go?""Hola senor," A sweet woman pulling in her laundry calls from her balcony. "You lost?""Un poquito," I hold up my fingers to express that I am a little bit turned around. "I am looking for my wife. I think she came this way. Very pretty, very pregnant."I make a round gesture over my belly and she laughs playfully, amused by my poor attempts at pantomime. "La bonita prenada mujer," she nods. "I see her, senor." S
[Cordelia]Atlas sets me off like nobody else. I don't know what it is about him that irritates me more: his constant need to be right or his knight-in-shining-armor hero complex, but I can't stand to look at him right now. Maybe Magnus is right. Maybe I need to take myself and this baby far. far away from Atlas Steele and his terrible, toxic family. Maybe I won't be able to heal myself until I have some space away from all of them. "Cordelia, please wait," Atlas calls after me in a gentle, broken voice.I turn around and he is standing where I left him, looking and lost. His clothing is wet and disheveled, his hair askew, the mark of my hand red upon his cheek.He isn't angry or worked like am. Atlas is sad."I'm sorry Cordelia," he holds out his hand. "I came out here looking for you not to take you home or tell you what you should do. I came out here to apologize."The rain is coming down in straight sheets of water, soaking us both, but neither of us seeks shelter. We both st